CONTINUING the Southeast Asian-magical realism narrative style of The Story of Southern Islet, Golden Horse-winning director Chong Keat Aun’s second feature film Snow in Midsummer is based on historical events in Malaysia with a focus on the stories of survivors.
Snow in Midsummer features a stellar cast from Malaysia, Taiwan and Singapore, including Wan Fang, Pearlly Chua, Rexen Cheng, Pauline Tan, Peter Yu and Alvin Wong.
Last year, the film received the Special Mention Musa Cinema and Arts Award at the 80th Venice International Film Festival. It also earned nine nominations at the 2023 Golden Horse Awards, marking a new milestone for Malaysian directors at this prestigious event. In 2024, Chong made history again after becoming the first Malaysian director to win the Firebird Award for Best Film in the Chinese-language Young Cinema Competition at the Hong Kong International Film Festival.
Heartfelt revelation from 14 survivors
The story is set three days after the 1969 Malaysian general election. Eng and her mother are watching the Cantonese opera Snow in June in Pudu while her father and brother are at the Majestic Theatre watching The Jilted. Unexpectedly, riots broke out that night, resulting in “hundreds of people disappearing” overnight with their bodies never to be found.
Since then, Eng has confined herself to the 1969 time frame, relentlessly searching for her lost family members. Forty-nine years later, Eng meets the Cantonese opera troupe master Dou-E from that tragic day at the cemetery and together, they recount the events of that tragic night in 1969.
The film also recreates scenes from Majestic Theatre, featuring the debut film of Taiwanese actress Yurunana Danivu, The Jilted, and the historical epic Raja Bersiong about Malaysia’s first prime minister Tunku Abdul Rahman.
17 years in the making
Kedah-born director Chong began the research for his The Classic Accents project and collected oral histories since 2005. In 2009, while participating in the Sungai Buloh leprosarium preservation demonstration, he discovered an unmarked cemetery behind the settlement. He waited for the next-of-kin at the graveyard every Qingming Festival and May 13, interviewed the survivors and compiled stories from 14 female family members for over 14 years.
Two of his short films Cemetery of Courtesy (2017) and Dayang Bersiong – The Sinful Cook (2022) serve as predecessors of Snow in Midsummer.
Chong won the Best New Director Award at the 57th Golden Horse Awards for his debut feature The Story of Southern Islet. Veteran film critic Wen Tien-Hsiang hailed it as a groundbreaking work that stunned the Chinese-language film industry with its unique theme and cinematic aesthetic.
“It is a miracle to be able to release (the movie) in Malaysia,” Chong said.
